Peripherals are not usually items that I pay much attention to at CES, but the Volos mouse from Thermaltake managed to pique my interest. The prototype mouse was spotted at the company’s CES booth amidst several new Level 10 GT mice in various colors.

The Tech Report spotted the prototype Volos mouse at the Thermaltake booth.

The Volos is a right-handed laser gaming mouse clad in matte gray with glossy black accents. The interesting bit though, lies on the left side the mouse: four colored blue, yellow, red, green Xbox-controller-style buttons and one A and B button. There is a seventh thumb button on the top-left edge of the mouse, two DPI selection buttons in the middle beneath the scroll wheel, and three additional buttons on the right side in reach of your little finger. LMB, RMB, and a white scroll wheel complete the package.

Reportedly, the mouse is not yet ready for retail, but it does suggest some interesting possibilities for gamers. Many modern games available on the PC are ports of console games, and that means that a number of games retain the Xbox controller tool tips and suggested controls. While it is possible to simply plug in an Xbox controller to pay such games, Thermaltake’s Volos mouse opens the door to a possible compromise. PC gamers would be able to keep the mouse look ad precision of their gaming mice while also being able to use Xbox-style button controls. At present, the buttons are likely used for macro activation, but it would be neat to see games auto-detect the other buttons and assign them the Xbox controls like the games do when an actual Xbox controller is recognized.

I think that I would have to actually try it out in person to determine how viable it is as a Xbox controller stand-in (ergonomically), but it at least appears to be a good idea! Tech Report has the full scoop on Thermaltake's new peripherals at CES if you are interested.